Legends
by The Evil Author
Summary: How did the Watchers begin? Several people want to know. Set some time during the first three seasons.


Title: Legends  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
Archive: Anywhere and everywhere. Just tell me if you do.  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
Summary: How did the Watchers begin? Several people want  
to know. Set some time during the first three seasons.  
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective  
owners. I'm too lazy to look them up.  
  
  
"Giles?"  
  
"Yes, Willow?"  
  
It had been quiet lately. Aside from the usual number of  
vamps staked each night, there had been no new demons or  
apocalypses sighted. So Willow was in the library this  
night going through some of Giles' books, looking for  
interesting tidbits of information.  
  
"How did...  
  
***  
  
"...the Watchers begin?"  
  
"That's an interesting question, Mac. What brought it up?"  
  
"Methos has been telling tall stories, Joe. And he got my  
curiosity up, so I thought I come talk to you. Methos can  
exagerate sometimes."  
  
"I'm flattered." The bar was closed. Joe and Duncan were  
alone, and he had time. Why the hell not? "Well, I can't  
say for sure it's true. More of a legend really..."  
  
***  
  
"...but I'll tell you what I know." Giles paused to wipe  
his glasses. "We began before civilization arose, passing  
oral stories to one another around campfires. Writing had  
not been invented then. We told each other of the spirits  
and demons and things that passed in the night. We told  
each other of true Immortals..."  
  
"A true Immortal, like what's described in this book?"  
Willow held up the book she had been reading. It had just  
arrived in the mail from England. On its cover was a  
single symbol, a double circle that contained a stylized  
bird or "M".  
  
***  
  
"Demons and spirits?"  
  
"That's how the legends go," Joe said defensively. "And  
after your encounter with the real thing..."  
  
"Alright, I get your point."  
  
"Anyway, civilization arose, writing was invented, and we  
started putting the legends we had learned down on clay  
tablets and convenient walls. We started calling ourselves  
Watchers."  
  
***  
  
"We gathered in the first cities. In fact, we always  
headquartered ourselves in the hub of trade routes. It  
simply made it easier for Watchers to report in. But I'm  
getting ahead of myself.  
  
"In the first cities, we gathered all we had learned. The  
council was formed. Initially, the Council was supposed to  
safeguard the accumalated lore. There central location  
made it convenient for the most respected Watchers to  
gather there, those Watchers became leaders, who joined  
the Council...well, you get the idea."  
  
Willow just nodded, fascinated.  
  
"But then, there came the Schism."  
  
***  
  
"The Schism?"  
  
"Yeah. Seems some of the early Watchers had taken to  
hunting down some of those spirits and demons I mentioned  
earlier."  
  
"Hunters," Mac said with distaste.  
  
"Uh-huh. Legend has it that they didn't actually do the  
hunting themselves. They trained special young girls to  
do the actual hunting. Called them Vampire Slayers. Though  
they'd 'slay' anything else given the chance."  
  
"Young girls against demons? Against *us*?" Mac was  
shocked.  
  
"Well, these so-called Slayers had notoriously short  
lifetimes."  
  
***  
  
"It shocked the other Watchers. Watchers, you see, are  
supposed to Watch in their view. We're not supposed to  
interfere, they said. Watchers are supposed to record, to  
be passive. Our side argued that we should be using our  
accumalated knowledge to defend humanity against the  
forces of darkness."  
  
"So both sides couldn't agree and split up," Willow  
guessed. At Giles' nod, she asked. "What happened to the  
other guys?"  
  
"Well, we assumed that the other group..."  
  
***  
  
"...just up and died out."  
  
"You assume?"  
  
"Well, there have been rumors that they still exist. That  
some Watchers are in contact with them, but nobody can say  
for sure. In fact, nobody wants to admit it, probably  
afraid they'll be blacklisted like Horton."  
  
"Not that it stopped him."  
  
***  
  
"So how come this is the only reference to true Immortals  
we have?" Willow asked. "The book makes them sound pretty  
nasty."  
  
"Well, after the Schism, we concentrated on the threats  
to humanity and such. I suppose True Immortals weren't  
counted as such."  
  
"That's not what it says here," Willow said indicating her  
book. "The guy who wrote it, Horton, says something about  
a Prize..." 


End file.
